The price of peace!
by Geroar
Summary: The third shinobi world war has ended and Iron country is hosting the peace talks to make up a peac treaty. Whirlpool has succesfully repelled an invasion of three major nations has become feared and to establish peace, Princess Kushina has to make a major sacrifice. She has to give up her own son as a hostage to the other nations and Iron country!
1. CH01 Introduction

**The price of peace!**

The story will soon be renamed to "The price of peace!"

Welcome to my new story: "The ways of a forgotten age" everything you'll need to know to be able to follow the story will be explained to you in this chapter.

 _ **Chapter 1: Introduction!**_

Back before the first shinobi village was created, all the clans that were spread across the elemental nations, were at war with one another. With one exception, the Uzumaki clan.

The Uzumaki clan lived on a small island many miles to the east of what would later be known as Hi no Kuni or land of fire. This island would later be named Uzu no Kuni or the land of whirlpools.

To the northwest of the island and to the north of the land of fire, there was a large mountain like land which would later be known as Kaminari no Kuni or the land of lightning. And to the southeast of the island was a larger island surrounded by several smaller islands. These islands would later be named Mizu no Kuni or the land of water.

While Uzu no Kuni wasn't a very large island, it possessed all the natural resources the Uzumaki clan would need to survive and even prosper. It was big enough to hold forests, mountains, lakes, cliffs, rivers, plains, a small jungle and many other diverse environments and habitats. This allowed the Uzumaki clan to plant rice fields to feed their people, cut down trees for wood, mine into the mountain to extract metals and stone.

While the island wasn't very large it would still take a normal human being at least a week to travel from one side to the other. But it was big enough for several villages to be built around the island and a single city to be established in the center of the island.

As the Uzumaki were busy building their island paradise, two clans on the main land that had been at war with each other for generations had laid down their weapons to come together and build the first ever shinobi village.

the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan, under the leadership of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha an alliance was made. Madara and Hashirama had become close friends with a common goal. The construction of a hidden shinobi village.

Easier said than done! Seeing as they always seemed to be arguing with one another. Hashirama and Madara soon came to the realization that they had to decide how to solve their disagreeing problem before anything else. Unless they found a way to make solid decisions that benefited the village in the eyes of both clan leaders, nothing would ever get done.

They came up with two solutions! The first option involved one of the two becoming the official village leader, giving him full authority on all decisions. The second option involved bringing a third neutral clan into the fold to act as a tie breaker.

In the end, Hashirama and Madara agreed that if one of them was put over the other, it would cause discontent among the clans and start the war all over again. And so, both Senju and Uchiha searched the land, and found the Sarutobi clan to be an acceptable ally to join their alliance. Hashirama chose the Sarutobi clan for their peaceful approach towards the other clans, always trying to find a peaceful solution that would be beneficial to both parties before resorting to war. Madara accepted the choice for the reason that the Sarutobi clan was the most powerful next to that of the Uchiha and Senju.

When the Sarutobi clan received their offer to join with them in an alliance the clan head was thrilled and quickly accepted their offer. Now, with a third and unbiased clan, major decisions were finally being made. First of which was the location where the village was to be built.

Hashirama wanted to build the village below the mountain. (We know it as the hokage monument!) Madara wanted to build the village on top of it so it could be easily defended against enemies trying to come up the mountain side.

Sarutobi proposed a compromise "Instead of having the village on top or below the mountain, what about building half the village on top and half down below. That way the civilians can do their trade down below where travel would be easier, while the shinobi can keep an eye out from up above the mountain."

Both Hashirama and Madara agreed that it was a good if not genius idea, the civilians would stay down below while the shinobi would live and train up above.

There was one problem though. They didn't have the money or necessary skill to build such a village. So after much thinking and deliberating the three heads decided that they would ask the Uzumaki clan for a loan.

When the Uzumaki sent their reply it stated that they would love to aid in the creation of such a village, but that they needed proof that the three clans could pay back the money they borrowed and that they wouldn't turn on them.

So an alliance through marriage was negotiated. One of the three clan heads had to marry Mito Uzumaki! The first daughter and second child to the current clan leader of the Uzumaki clan. The Sarutobi clan head was already married and Uchiha Madara absolutely refused to get married under these conditions, therefore it was Hashirama Senju who entered into holy matrimony with the lovely princess Mito Uzumaki to prove that the three clans would keep their word.

With the wedding successfully completed upon the foundations of the future leaf village, the Uzumaki clan reached into its very deep and wealthy pockets and sponsored the construction of the village hidden in the leaves. To show their appreciation the three clans decreed that every shinobi of the leaf village would bear the Uzumaki symbol somewhere on their shinobi attire.

While the village was being constructed, the three clans were approached by one clan after the other. The alliance of the three clans had shifted the balance of power drastically. In less than a week, an ambassador from almost every clan in the land of fire had come to them. Each one with a unique proposal or offering, asking for permission to reside within the safety of the village. In exchange each clan promised to swear their allegiance to them.

While in the land of fire the different clans were uniting as one, the other elemental nations were putting an end to their internal struggles as well. But instead of coming together, a single clan or a small group of the more powerful clans rose to power. These struggles left them weak in comparison to the united land of fire. So the victors of each country decided to build a village of their own to match the threat of the village hidden in the leaves.

Many decades went by as the world was thrust into war three more times. These would later be known as the shinobi world wars. Hashirama died during the first shinobi world war and left his position as clan head to his younger brother, Tobirama, who in turn sacrificed his life to end the second shinobi world war.

But before he passed away, Tobirama passed on his position as clan head to his student Sarutobi Hiruzen who was the clan head of the Sarutobi clan. Hiruzen would hold the position of both the Senju and his own clan during the third shinobi world war until Senju Tsunade would come of age.

And when the time finally came, Tsunade accepted her position of clan head. With her husband Dan beside her, who took on the Senju name so that the clan wouldn't end with this generation. Of course there was Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki, but he just wasn't right for the position of clan head.

When the third shinobi war was about to reach its end, three of the major shinobi villages and several of the smaller ones came together and launched a large scale invasion of the land of whirlpools. Iwa(rock), Kumo(cloud) and Kiri(mist) and several of the minor villages sent over 75% of their military might to destroy the Uzumaki clan. But when the ships came to the island 30% sank to the bottom as they sailed straight into the natural barricade of whirlpools surrounding the island. The other 70% made it to the shore. But the Uzumaki clan had already seen them coming from far away and ordered all of their civilians to move behind the walls of their great white city. They collapsed their mines, gathered all the harvest, and dried up all of the rivers and wells. Leaving nothing for the invading army to live on except for what they had brought with them.

Another 15% died from hunger or dehydration before they reached the walls of the white city. This reduced their army to 55% of their original size and number. With over 450.000 shinobi they laid siege to the city of Uzushio which contained a little under 20.000 samurai and 2.000 shinobi. The siege lasted for 3 weeks and ended with the attacking army giving up and returning home with less than 80.000 shinobi remaining. They allied forces had started out with 820.000 shinobi and returned with only 7.623 shinobi. The Uzumaki were left with 6.000 samurai and 800 shinobi at the end, but they had successfully pushed back the invading army.

When news of Uzushio's victory over the forces of the allied invaders reached the main land it spread far and wide, reaching every corner of every country and caused a large commotion among the people.

'How can 22.000 men and women defeat and invading army of 820.000?!'

'There's no way that rumor is true, it's just impossible!'

'Do you think that the Uzumaki are Kami's chosen people?'

And so the third shinobi world war came to an end with rumors spreading of Uzushio amazing power. These rumors however gave rise to great concern among the people, how would they know that Uzushio wouldn't come and invade them? How could they stop an unbeatable army of Uzumaki demon-/angel- warriors? The people demanded that something would be done to ensure their safety in case of an Uzumaki invasion. The countries responded to the people by sending their leaders to the land of Iron to discuss what was to be done.

 _ **End chapter 1: Introduction!**_


	2. CH02 We leave for iron country

**The price of peace!**

 _ **Chapter 2: We leave for Iron country!**_

Rumors had been going around the elemental nations, rumors that stirred up fear inside of the people. This fear had led the people to grow unhappy with the current leadership of their nations and military forces. The people demanded to know how they were going to keep them safe from such a powerful army should the Uzumaki choose to respond to the invasion of their land with one of their own.

Those in charge tried to calm the people down, trying to convince them that the stories of their victory were highly exaggerated and that the invading allied forces were hastily put together and fought amongst themselves while the Uzumaki stood united, causing them to come out victoriously.

But the people wouldn't hear it. The people weren't experts when it came to strategy and war after all. They didn't understand that these were all factors that could lead any army no matter how big to fall apart against a strong united force that was secure behind their city walls. The only thing they understood was that an army of 820.000 had been defeated by 22.000 Uzumaki.

Unable to quell the people's concerns the leaders of each country demanded that their military leaders solve this problem. And so while the daimyo's were left with keeping the people from revolting, five great Kages and the King of whirlpool prepared to leave for Iron country where a peace treaty would be made and signed that had to make sure that a fourth shinobi world war could never happen and would ease the people's concerns about the Uzumaki.

 _3 weeks after the 3_ _rd_ _shinobi world war/sand village._

Mere minutes ago Rasa, the fourth Kazekage, received a summons to the peace talks that would take place in the capitol of iron country. The summons had been signed by the shogun of Iron country himself.

The shogun was the man to whom all samurai clans in iron country owed their allegiance to. If any clan dared turn against him or his house, the shogun could call upon the other clans to destroy the rebelling clan. The shogun basically ruled over all of iron country and would award the most loyal of his samurai clan heads with a seat on the council or other important positions.

After discussing the summons with the rest of the sand council, the meeting ended and the large council chamber doors swung open. Waiting for Rasa outside of the large doors was his family. His 2 year old daughter, Temari who was being carried by a hired nanny on her hip. His wife Karura who was carrying his 1 year old son, Kankuro and was also heavily pregnant with his next child. If it would be another boy they would name him Gaara. If it was another girl they would name her Gaia.

Rasa's confident stride wavered when he noticed his family waiting for him. He looked his wife momentarily in the eyes before his gaze dropped down to his unborn child.

Karura watched as her husband's gaze lingered on her pregnant belly and then take a deep breath as he steeled himself. He had apparently made up his mind about something and was now moving towards his office.

"What's going on?" Karura asked, her voice laced with concern. She handed Kankuro over to the nanny and followed her husband into his office closing the door behind her. She watched as he started packing several documents from different cabinets.

"I have been summoned to attend the peace talks being held in Iron country. Mifune, one of the shogun's general samurai will be attending on behalf of all of Iron country. The other four Kage will also be attending, as well as the high king of Uzushio." Rasa explained as he continued gathering documents and sealed them away.

"When will you leave?" she asked.

"The peace talks are to take place one week from now, if I leave tomorrow I'll have a plenty of time to get there." he answered without looking in her direction.

"I understand." She said as she bowed in acceptance. As she gazed down she couldn't help herself and hugged her bloated stomach. she didn't even realize she was crying until the first tears started falling towards the floor. She inhaled deeply and quickly tried to wipe away her tears. It would be unbecoming of the Kazekage's wife to be seen crying in public.

Rasa embraced his wife as she broke down into tears, shocking her at his warm and loving gesture. He was always so cold towards her and their children because he wanted to appear professional. "There's no need to hold back." He said comforting "We are all alone now… so there is no need to pretend anymore." He soothed her, rubbing her back.

Karura started crying even harder, but now her tears were those of joy. "It's been such a long time since I've last seen you like this… since I've been able to feel your arms around me… that I've almost started to believe you didn't love me anymore. That you didn't want US anymore." She cried, referring to their children when she said 'us'.

"I'm sorry! But it was necessary, if they thought that I put my family before the village the council would have me removed from the Kage position." He begged her to understand.

"I understand, but…" she stopped.

"I know, I wanted to be there when the baby is born… but this is really important." He could feel her nod against his chest.

"Will you be going alone?" she asked.

"No. I'm allowed to take two personal guards with me. I was thinking about taking the elders, Chiyo and Ebizo." He thought out loud.

"Come to bed tonight!" Karura said, looking him in the eyes with a look on her face that screamed 'non-negotiable'

"Whatever you want, my love." Rasa said before pulling her closer and kiss her passionately.

 _3 weeks after the 3_ _rd_ _shinobi world war/stone village._

The young Akatsuchi stormed into the Tsuchikage's office screaming "Onoki-sama! Is it true you're leaving the village?!"

"Akatsuchi! I don't remember giving you permission to enter my office!" Onoki yelled back as his feet left the floor and he flew through the air until his face was pressed against the young rock ninja. In fact, Onoki had pushed so far that Akatsuchi's spine was bent backwards and he was standing on the tips of his feet trying to keep himself from falling on his ass.

Akatsuchi was staring into the widened eyes of the third Tsuchikage. His pupils contracted into little black dots and blood veins appearing all over his sclera(white of the eye).

"I'm sorry!" He whimpered "I won't do it again, please forgive me!"

"Calm down! just make sure it doesn't" Onoki said as his expression relaxed. At the same time he descended back towards the floor. When his feet touched the ground and he released the technique, his body became once again subjected to the earth's gravity which caused a loud crack to be heard all throughout the building as Onoki's back gave out.

"OOOOOOWWAAAAAAHH!" Onoki writhed in pain as he doubled over, one hand on his back, the other placed on the floor to keep him up. His eyes had turned white entirely and became round.

"Onoki-sama! Are you okay?!" Akatsuchi went to help but was waved off.

"I'm not so old that I need the help from some greenhorn!" Onoki grumbled as he pulled himself together and took a seat in his chair behind his desk, picking up and looking over some papers. "Now what is it you wanted to talk about?" the old man asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah! I wanted to ask you if it's true that you'll be leaving the village." Akatsuchi said.

"Yes."

"Huh?"

*sigh* "Yes, it's true. I'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Why?! Where are you going?! Who'll be taking care of the village?! You can't just leave like that!"

"Calm down Akatsuchi! I've received a summons to the peace talks in iron country. I'm not abandoning the village, but I have to be there." Onoki said.

"But I heard you were leaving on your own." Akatsuchi stated.

"I am! There is no one left in the village with the skills necessary to stand against the bodyguards of the other nations. If a fight were to break out, any shinobi I take with me would be dead within minutes. Enough of our shinobi's blood has been spilled in this war. I won't allow a single drop more to be sacrificed." Onoki said determined.

"Then take me with you. I'm strong, I can do it! I've been training really hard, so please allow me to come with you." Akatsuchi begged.

"Hah! Very well, go hurry up and pack! We leave tomorrow morning!" he said.

"Yay! You won't regret this!" Akatsuchi called as he ran out the door.

 _3 weeks after the 3_ _rd_ _shinobi world war/cloud village._

The third Raikage, known as A, had just read over the summons from iron country's shogun and had erupted into a rampage. "HOW DARE THEY! HOW DARE THEEEEEEEYYY!" he screamed as he destroyed another building.

"Raikage-Sama~~~! Please calm down Raikage-sama!" yelled Blue B, one of the best friends of A's son. A's son would eventually succeed him as the fourth Raikage, but for now he remained one of his best shinobi he had together with Blue B. His son would be 31 this year and Blue B had become 30 already.

"HOW DARE THEY ORDER ME AROUND! HUH?!" The third Raikage raged as he pounded the building further into the dust.

"Aaaaah!" a woman screamed as pieces of rubble were flying her way, as she sat on her knees, tears running down her face and shielding her two young boys. One 6 and one 4 year old who were whimpering in fear. She couldn't do anything but watch as her village leader destroyed her home and that of her children with his bare hands.

"Raikage-sama, you're mistaken! I doubt they are ordering you to do anything! It's just that this is such an important gathering that your duties as Raikage demand that you be present!" Blue B tried to calm him down with reason.

The Raikage had been on his morning walk through the village when a messenger had noticed him and handed the summons straight to him in person and then left to continue his other duties.

As the Raikage read through the message he had become livid and directed all of his anger onto the nearest building, waking up its inhabitants. The woman living there had run upstairs to her youngest son who had been sick in bed and grabbed him, carrying him downstairs and taking her eldest son's hand who had hidden underneath the breakfast table she ran outside only to see the Raikage destroying her home in a furious rage.

What could she possibly have done to deserve such punishment? Her husband had given his life in the third war, he had served faithfully and died for his country and people hadn't he? So why? Why was he doing this to her?

The Raikage eventually calmed down and his bodyguards showed up, just to make sure he didn't destroy anything else.

Relieved that his leader had stopped his rampage, Blue B walked over to the owners of what used to be their house. All three of them were crying. The children were crying for their mother and the mother was crying about losing her home. The neighbors had all come out to see what was going on.

Poor child.

How is she supposed to raise her children without a roof over her head?

Why would Raikage-sama do something like that?

Do you think they committed a crime or something?

What?! Are you implying that she is a traitor to the village?!

Blue B wanting to put these nasty rumors to rest, not wanting to cause this family any more grief quickly ran over and fell to his knees in front of the woman and her children.

"Please forgive lord Raikage-sama!" he begged as his forehead touched the floor. The reaction of the family and their neighbors was pure shock. "Our lord just received some extremely bad news and he was unable to contain his anger and took all his frustrations out upon you home, I'm deeply sorry!" Blue B said as he once again performed dogeza. "We will take full responsibility for the destruction of your home and we will pay for all of the repairs. Until then… please follow me so I can provide you with a temporary residence!" he apologized again.

The woman, who had stopped crying by now only nodded as her fears were proven wrong, she was about to ask something but she was too scared as the voice of the Raikage roared from further down the street "BLUE B! AS SOON AS YOU'VE DELT WITH THIS I WANT YOU TO FIND MY SON! THE BOTH OF YOU ARE GOING TO BE ESCORTING ME TO IRON COUNTRY! GOT IT?!" he yelled to Blue B.

"Yes, of course!" Blue B replied as he got up to follow behind his leader.

"AND B…" he yelled. "…make sure that no expense is spared on the construction of their new home!" the Raikage ordered in a softer tone. He was too stubborn to apologize to his civilians but that didn't mean he didn't care, the opposite in fact, there was no way to measure just how much guilt he felt for destroying that house. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he thought about how scared those children must have been. The tear went unnoticed by anyone and he was able to wipe it away without anyone finding out. He would make it up to them a hundred times over. A small smile donned his face as he imagined the woman wearing the finest silk robes and the children playing with the most expensive toys and eating the most delicious candy while their house was being build up from scratch.

 _3 weeks after the 3_ _rd_ _shinobi world war/mist village._

With the death of the third Mizukage during the invasion of Uzushio, the village was in need of a new Mizukage. And so Yagura came to be the fourth Mizukage, things were very hard on him. A village in ruins, most of their shinobi dead and trade with the other nations had diminished greatly. Traders now feared to incur the wrath of the Uzumaki by trading with the village that was responsible for creating the allied forces.

Things just couldn't get any worse for him… or so he thought! Because now, three weeks after the war came to an end he received a summons to appear at the peace talks that were to take place in Iron country.

What was he supposed to do? He couldn't leave the village now! Without him everything would fall apart. *sigh*

"Is something wrong Mizukage-sama?" Ao asked, worried about the expression on Yagura's face.

"I'm being summoned to Iron country to attend the peace talks regarding the treaty to be made." Yagura informed his secretary and advisor. "I can't leave the village, not now of all times!" Yagura complained.

"I see, the village is indeed on the brink of collapsing, however we can't afford to be absent at the peace talks either…hmm" Ao thought out loud. "When are the talks to take place?" Ao suddenly asked.

"huh?... Oh, uhm… a week from now." Yagura replied as he blazed over the summons again, finding the date. "Why?"

"Well, Iron country isn't that far away from Water as it is for the other nations. So you don't have to leave any time soon. I suggest we do as much as we can for the village until it is time for your departure. Then, with your permission, I'll try my best to make sure the village doesn't fall apart while you're at the peace talks." Ao explained his idea.

Yagura's mood changed for the better, hearing the idea. "Thank you Ao. I don't know what I'd do without you." Yagura thanked the 30 year old man.

"I do it all for my country and the people living in it, Yagura-sama!" Ao replied with a sense of pride and joy in his tone. Puffing up his chest, standing tall and erect(no pun, totally serious!) as he saluted his Mizukage.

"I know you do. Then, here is my first order to you Ao, Jounin of the mist village and citizen of water country!" Yagura said excited, pretending to act like a respectable and professional Mizukage.

"Yes, lord Mizukage-sama! What do you ask of me?" Ao responded, also pretending to be a serious underling.

"Find Fuguki Suikazan and Ringo Ameyuri! And tell them to be prepared to leave for Iron country as my personal bodyguards we will leave sometime this week!" Yagura ordered.

"Yes, Mizukage-sama!" Ao saluted and left to complete his mission as soon as possible. After all, there was a lot more for him to do in the office right now than in the field.

 _3 weeks after the 3_ _rd_ _shinobi world war/leaf village._

The three heads of the Konoha council, Senju Tsunade, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Uchiha Fugaku could be found inside the council chambers together with the heads of several other clans. Around Hiruzen sat the three clan heads of the Yamanaka, Nara and the Akimichi. Around Tsunade the clan heads of the Inuzuka, Aburame and the Hyuuga were seated. Those that supported Fugaku were Danzo and Hiruzen's former teammates, Homura Mitokado with his glasses and grey beard and Koharu Utatane who wears a golden needle in her hair and always has her eyes closed for some reason.

Hiruzen cleared his throat and stood up from his clan's seat.

"I've gathered you all here today to discuss two important things, firstly as some of you may know, I have decided to step down as head of the Sarutobi clan to make place for my son… Sarutobi Asuma!" Hiruzen announced as he looked across the room. "He will take my place as head of the Sarutobi clan in three weeks!"

"Secondly! We have received a summons from Iron country!" Hiruzen said holding up a piece of paper. Taking notice of the document, sporting the symbol of iron country, as well as that of the shogun, the council burst into conversation.

"This is most unexpected. Why? Because Iron country is solely made up of samurai and therefore has no ties to us shinobi villages." Aburame Shibi stated. "Also, they've always refuse to involve themselves with our wars, unless provoked. most unexpected. So the answer I want to know is why the shogun would summon us and for what purpose?" Shibi Aburame continued, causing some of the council members to look at him awkwardly. Most clans however had become used to the bug user's way of talking.

"Thank you for pointing that out Shibi-san. Now to answer your question, Iron country has volunteered to host peace talks in their capitol. The four other Kages will be attending, as well as the current head of the Uzumaki clan. According to the instructions that came with the summons, the kage of each country must be present at the peace talks. Representatives are not allowed! Each kage is allowed to bring a maximum of two bodyguards with him into Iron country's borders. Anyone else will be forced to wait at the border until their respective leaders return home. Seeing as Konoha has three leaders they have given us the option of either 1 of 3 with 2 bodyguards or 2 out of 3, one of which acts as a bodyguard together with a third non clan shinobi." Hiruzen started going over the instructions.

"What about the representatives of the Uzumaki?!" Fugaku asked. "Last time I've heard they don't possess anything resembling a Kage!"

"Yes, I've read something similar in the reports that were given to me by Ibiri Morino."

(Ibiki's mother, this person is not part of the original anime and is created for the purpose of the story!).

Shikaku Nara stood up facing Hiruzen "May I ask where this information came from? If the Uzumaki are as powerful as the rumors say they are than it is possible that any information was purposefully leaked."

"I find that unlikely seeing as the information was gathered from deserters of the allied invasion forces that have been crossing our borders recently." Hiruzen explained.

Now Danzo was the one to stand up. "Why was I not informed of this?! If we have survivors of that invasion in our custody then I demand you give them over to me for interrogation! If the Uzumaki are preparing to attack then we need to know and so we can be prepared!"

"Request denied!" Hiruzen replied. "All those that were captured will be handed over to their respective nations at the border of Iron country during the peace talks." Hiruzen informed them.

"I'm against such actions! If we reveal that we held their shinobi captive, the other nations might consider it an act of aggression! We should continue keeping them locked away and continue interrogation until they are of no further use to us. After which we quietly dispose of them without alerting the other nations of our actions!" Danzo tried to talk over the other members with reason.

"That won't happen, seeing as they are deserters and started causing problems within our borders, we are fully within our rights to apprehend and interrogate them. Most aren't even mentally stable, so they aren't of much use to us. Now, this issue is closed and will not be brought up again! Instead we must decide who we send to these peace talks!" Hiruzen explained.

"The Uchiha clan has been chosen to oversee defense of the village this year. And considering that the police force consists mostly of Uchiha it would be illogical of me to go." Fugaku stated.

"I agree with Fugaku-sama!" Tsunade interrupted. "I think that YOU should go Sarutobi-sensei, seeing as your clan has been assigned to oversee the village's offense and the fact that you'll be retiring soon!" Tsunade continued.

A murmur of approval went through the room accompanied by a lot of nods. "It's decided then! Sarutobi Hiruzen will represent Konoha at the peace talks in iron country!" Fugaku said, jumping on the chance to get this meeting over with so he could return to his wife who was currently in the hospital giving birth to their second child. 'I hope I'm not too late!' Fugaku thought 'If it's a boy, Sasuke if it's a girl, Sasuki!' his mind wandered off.

"All that is left, is to decide who will be accompanying you as your bodyguard Hiruzen-sama!" Inoichi said, calming the room.

"Yes, of course… well then why don't you join me? Lady Senju? Seeing as the Senju clan is in charge of **support** this year I think it's only right that you **support** me during these peace talks." Hiruzen chuckled.

Tsunade returned Hiruzen with an honest smile as she said. "It would be my pleasure, sensei."

"Good, then… I believe Jiraiya deserves the spot as my final bodyguard, considering the fact that he doesn't belong to a clan, used to be my student, is one of the sannin and your teammate, Tsunade-sama." Hiruzen continued chuckling.

"A wise decision. My skills as a medic-nin and his skills as a seal-master would be quite the asset." Tsunade chuckled as well. "And this way I can make sure that pervert doesn't start a war by peeking on the wrong person in the hot springs." Tsunade continued to laugh, but this time it sounded more menacingly.

"It is decided then! I will attend these peace talks together with Jiraiya and Tsunade!" Hiruzen said as he gazed across the shinobi present. "We will depart the day after tomorrow!"

 _3 weeks after the 3_ _rd_ _shinobi world war/whirlpool._

Uzumaki Rokushi, king of whirlpool island looked over the scroll that was delivered to him earlier. 'So they want me to attend this peace treaty. No doubt they're going to make demands left and right after their catastrophic defeat. Try to get some valuable intel out of me, to them my country, its culture, and its military power is a mystery. And therefore a threat!' he thought as he read over the scroll again.

Rokushi stood up from his golden decorated stone chair and walked around the round, stone table in the center of the war room. From the center of the table to several inches from the edge, the table was actually hollow and filled up with some kind of black sand. The sand moved and flowed in some places and in other places were more solid. The sand now represented a map of the entire known world.

With a wave of his hand the sand fell and rose until it became entirely flat and level with the stone part of the table. Leaving the war room through the heavy, steel, double doors, he made his way down the Uzumaki palace. Servants were running around the halls, seeing to the needs of everyday life in the palace.

As Rokushi made his way through one corridor after the other, he walked up to two guards. Both equipped with beautifully forged armor and a helmet decorated with white feathers, forming wings on the sides.

Each guard had a sword strapped to their left hip and an axe tucked in between their belt and their uniform on their right hip. A large spear, also beautifully decorated, held firmly in their right hand and a shield adorning the Uzumaki clan symbol with a lion's head, facing forward on top of the whirlpool.

"You there!" he called out to the guards. Hearing the voice calling out to them they turned to see that their lord was addressing them and they fell onto their left knee. Their shields standing between the floor and their faces and their spears laid down on the floor to their right as they put their right hand over their right knee or over their heart.

"My lord!" they responded to his presence. "Stand!" he ordered. Picking up their spears, they returned back to their original positions.

"I need you to go and find general Katsuie for me! Tell him to meet me in the throne room at 1 o'clock this afternoon!" Uzumaki Rokushi said in a stern voice that didn't allow for any retort. "Yes my lord!" they said and took off in separate directions.

After watching both guards disappear he continued on until he finally reached the private chambers of his first born, Uzumaki Kushina. Rokushi had his hand on the large golden ring, used to pull open the doors, when the doors suddenly swung open and one of Kushina's personal servants came out carrying bloody towels and a bowl of water mixed with blood.

The servant girl was very tired which could be seen by the bags under her eyes. Her state of exhaustion was probably the reason she didn't notice him right away. "Oh!... my lord I didn't see you there… my apologies!" she rambled her excuses.

"Don't worry about it Melinda dear…" he said, smiling kindly at the girl he recognized as his daughter's favorite handmaiden. His expression turned deadly serious as he noticed the bloody towels in her arms. "How is she doing? Did everything go smoothly?" he asked concerned.

Melinda took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh before replying "Lady Kushina is fine now. It lasted throughout the entire night, up until moments ago. We immediately sent someone to notify you."

"Yes, I wanted to come right away but I received urgent news and I was delayed. Can I go see her or is this a bad time?" he asked.

"Sure, you can go inside right now. But don't take too long, she is very tired right now." Melinda replied and took off.

Stepping inside the room, Rokushi took note of what everyone was doing. His daughter was sitting up against the back of her emperor sized bed. Exhausted and clear that she had been crying she also noticed her father and gave a weak smile. The maids were busy changing the bloody bedsheets and cleaning up the shredded pillows and the feathers within.

Walking up to the bed he sat down on the edge and asked "How are you feeling?"

Smiling weakly Kushina looked at her father and said "Tired!" earning a chuckle from him. "Father? I'd look you to meet someone…" she said as she lifted up the bundle of blankets in her arms that he'd failed to notice earlier.

Leaning forward so that he could see what was wrapped up inside, he was rewarded with the sight of a newborn baby. Seeing the chubby pink face of the child made his face turn into that of wonder and joy.

"Dad… I'd like you to meet your grandson… Uzumaki Naruto!" Kushina said, the joy clearly obvious in her voice.

"He's perfect… look at him! He looks just like you." Rokushi said as he made little baby sounds, going coochy coochy coo!

At that moment the Uzumaki Naruto opened his eyes and started bawling at the noises, the sounds being a mix of laughter and crying.

"He has his father's eyes!" Rokushi exclaimed seeing the deep sky blue eyes. Kushina moved the child so she could see for herself. "He does…" she said sadly and tears were starting to form in her eyes. "Oh Kushina dear…" Rokushi said as he embraced her in a fatherly hug as she broke down crying. "Why?! Why did he have to die?! It's not fair!" Kushina cried holding onto Naruto as tightly as she could without harming him.

"Shshshsh, it's going to be okay sweetheart. I know it isn't fair, I know… but everything is going to be okay now." Rokushi tried to console his daughter. Naruto's father had perished during the invasion. His name had been Mori Yoshinari. Yoshinari had been the best pupil of General Shibata Katsuie and had been a lieutenant in the Uzumaki army.

 ***FLASHBACK***

Shibata Katsuie was a samurai general, but was also well trained in the ways of the shinobi. Every year Katsuie would inspect the military academy and if a certain cadet caught his interest he'd make them his personal students, he was also the one who taught Kushina how to fight. Kushina had been his best student from when she began at the age of 14 until she turned 17.

It was at that age that Yoshinari, being 19, joined her and Katsuie's other students at his personal dojo. At first she didn't think too much of it. He was just another guy that had caught Katsuie's interest. But Yoshinari quickly made his way to the top defeating one opponent after the other. And when the rumors going around the dojo reached her ears, saying that Yoshinari might just be the strongest of Katsuie's disciples, Kushina's pride couldn't take any more.

She would show everyone that she, the crown princess of Uzushio, was the strongest and most skilled fighter amongst them. Kushina had always been exceptionally strong for her age, even beating opponents 10 years older than her. A fact she was proud of. So she challenged Yoshinari that very same day to a friendly spar to see who was the strongest between the two. Yoshinari accepted after she had accused him of being a coward.

An hour later Kushina had appeared wielding her own custom made curved, dual-blades. Yoshinari had showed up with a standard, samurai fighting spear. The fight had lasted over 2 hours and both had ended up with cuts and bruises. Yoshinari had done a great job keeping Kushina at a distance using his spear, making thrusts and slashes, Kushina could barely avoid or parry. So she decided to jump back to allow her some breathing space. Unable to get close to her opponent she'd become frustrated and decided to pull a feint.

Her plan had worked, as Yoshinari went to counter her feint, she moved forward until he was within her reach. Just as she was about to finish him off, he did something she didn't expect. Yoshinari twisted his spear to hit her in the side with the back of his spear.

Kushina was pushed to the ground as the spear's end hit between her ribs, leaving her in pain on the ground and the crowd cheering. Opening her eyes and looking towards her opponent through her tears she found him smirking at her. That had been the last straw! The elastic band tying her hair together snapped and her hair started waving in nine different strands. Her eyes were lit on fire and she jumped back into the fight.

Her rage had calmed down after a while and the fight eventually ended with Kushina fainting from exhaustion when she stubbornly pushed her body beyond its limits. Both were having trouble breathing and could barely stand on their legs. She had decided to make one final charge but she found that her body wouldn't listen to her head and she fell unconscious before she could hit the ground.

Yoshinari noticed and had thrown his spear to the side to catch her before she could hit the ground. This had been the scene Rokushi had walked in on, his daughter unconscious, beaten and wounded in the arms of an equally beaten and wounded boy. When Kushina had been treated for her injuries and had regained consciousness, she'd found out her father had thrown Yoshinari in the dungeons before he had the chance to explain himself.

So she had gone to free him and apologize, but instead she found him collapsed from his injuries in his cell. Kushina immediately panicked and had him brought up to her room where she personally treated his injuries with the help of two of her maids. She'd fallen asleep sometime before dawn as she had watched him struggle throughout the night.

That night he'd almost died from his injuries, suffering through a very high fever. And Kushina prayed and prayed that he'd make it, saying that it was all her fault. When Yoshinari woke up the next morning he was extremely confused, noticing the princess sitting next to him but not realizing she was asleep he said "Princess Kushina? Where am I? What am I doing here?" His voice had woken her up and seeing that he too was awake and alive she burst out into tears and threw herself at him. embracing him in a big hug and apologizing over and over again as she cried her heart out, leaving the young man only more confused than before.

After that Kushina would follow him around wherever he went and her feelings for him soon became obvious for everyone to see. Yoshinari eventually accepted that her feelings wouldn't go away just like that and decided to ask her out to see if perhaps they could turn this into a real relationship.

Soon they were a steady couple and years later when she turned 22 they got married. But now he had died and she'd given birth to their first child at 24 years old.

 ***FLASHBACK END***

Kushina had almost completely stopped crying as her father continued to hug her.

"Kushina?"

"Yes father?"

"I know how much you love ramen noodles but don't you think naming the boy after fishcakes is going a bit too far?"

"FATHER! It means MEALSTROM and NOT FISHCAKE!" Kushina replied angrily.

"Oh! Yeah that sounds a lot better!" he said laughing, and Kushina started laughing with him after a couple seconds.

"Kushina… I'm going to Iron country in a few days to attend the peace talks there and I'd like…"

"I'm coming too!" Kushina interrupted her father.

"Kushina! You can't! You're not strong enough to travel!" he said sternly as he knew how stubborn she could get.

"Not right now I'm not but I will be really soon!" she replied looking him in the eyes.

"it's not safe! You could get hurt! And who's going to look after Naruto while we're gone?!" he tried to persuade her.

"He's coming with us!" She replied.

The two continued to fight for another thirty minutes until their voices reached a point where they were so loud that little Naruto woke up and started crying.

In the end Rokushi left the room with a major headache and the knowledge that his child and grandchild would be accompanying him to Iron country.

 _ **End chapter 2: We leave for Iron country!**_

And that is the end. I really love what I've got so far please leave a review as I'm really curious about what you think of the story so far.

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	3. CH03 Gathering of the great!

**The price of peace!**

 **!Warning!**

 **This story has been renamed from: The ways of a forgotten age! To: The price of peace!**

 **!Warning!**

 _ **Chapter 3: Gathering of the great!**_

 _A mile of the coast of Iron country/day of the peace talks._

A mile from the coast of Iron country, a ship with the leaf's insignia on its sails, was making its way towards a harbor town to drop anchor and allow their passengers to disembark.

"Sensei, the captain says that we'll be arriving soon and that we should get ready to disembark." Jiraiya said to Sarutobi Hiruzen who was currently bent over the ship's railing, puking his guts out.

"*bleeergh* ah, Jiraiya? That's wonderful news, I'll be there in a minute." Hiruzen replied, looking at his most promising student. Jiraiya who noticed that his Sensei wasn't feeling well at all nodded and went off to find Tsunade so she could use her medical knowledge to make their main representative at the peace talks appear more presentable.

 _Iron country / shogun's castle._

Minutes later the three leaf representatives were standing outside of the shogun's palace in front of the large iron double doors.

"Halt! State your names and business here!" a samurai holding a naginata said as he stopped them from entering.

"I am Hiruzen Sarutobi. I represent Konoha in the peace talks, and these are my two bodyguards and students. Senju Tsunade and Jiraiya of the sannin." Hiruzen said pointing towards the two on his left and right.

"Before I can let you go any further I will need you to present me with your invitation." The samurai spoke.

"Invitation? I wasn't told about this!" Hiruzen spoke in outrage.

Before the samurai could reply Tsunade intervened "*sigh* I've got this." she said as she stepped forward showing him the letter that was sent to the leaf with the shogun's personal seal on it.

The samurai guard confirmed the authenticity of the seal and motioned for the others to open the palace doors. "What would you two fools do without me?" she smiled.

 _Shogun's castle / meeting room._

Once inside they were escorted through the castle and into the room where the talks were to take place. The room itself was quite large, even though most of it was being occupied by the spectators section at sides of the room and at a raised level. In the center was a circular wooden table at which all but three seats were already occupied. The Mizu, Tsuchi, Rai and Kazekage were all already sitting in their respective seats in front of a large banner with their country's symbol on it, hanging from the spectators' section. Each one having their kage hat in front of them on the table.

"Please take a seat over there." their guide said as he pointed towards the chair reserved for the hokage. "The two of you will have to wait up there with the others." He continued pointing to the spectators section.

Tsunade and Jiraiya looked towards one another before nodding and jumping up to their section and took a seat on the chairs provided. Jiraiya took a look towards the other areas where the bodyguards sat and saw several familiar faces. In the area to their left were the famous dessert twin elders, Chiyo the master of the 10 guardian puppets and Ebizo who he couldn't remember what he was famous for at the moment.

In the area next to that one sat a large young man who Jiraiya didn't recognize. The boy was hardly a man, but according to his information network he was called Akatsuchi, an Iwa chuunin with a promising future ahead of him.

In the area next to that one stood two people he had been misfortunately enough to have met in battle. The son of the third Raikage, and his best friend Blue B. Rumors said that Blue B was suffering from a lethal disease and that A was trying to find a replacement amongst the younger shinobi as his son's sparring partner.

The area next to that of the Cloud village was reserved for the samurai of iron country and were empty!

The area next to that one stood a person Jiraiya had hoped never to meet again. Fuguki Suikazan! One of the seven swordsmen of the mist and wielder of Samehada. Jiraiya had fought the man ONCE and lost. Well… he didn't necessarily lose as he had retreated from the battle. The man had somehow been able to steal large amounts of his chakra, yet hadn't been able to lay a finger on him. He had just been swinging Samehada in his direction wildly. The woman next to the Fuguki was unknown to him except for her name and title as one of the seven swordsmen. Ringo Ameyuri was her name, but other than that he didn't know much about her, except for the fact that she was quite HOT! Too bad about the teeth though.

The area next to the mist was to the leaf's right and was also empty as it was reserved for the representatives of Uzushio. Uzushio was a mystery to him, even though the two nations had long been allies with one another they didn't allow any outsiders on the island unless you were a trader, ambassador or a civilian asking for citizenship. But more so that they didn't allow anyone from outside in, they didn't allow anyone from the inside out! From everything he could find on Uzushio, not a single person has ever been able to make it off the island without permission. Not a single deserter, rogue shinobi or any other kind of criminal.

Below at the central table Hiruzen took his seat, greeting his neighbor and ally with a friendly nod. Rasa of the desert responded with a friendly nod of his own. No words were exchanged between the two. Rasa leaned back into his seat and crossed his arms over his chest, continuing to wait patiently for those still absent to show up.

Hiruzen let his gaze slide over towards Onoki, greeting the man with a half-friendly, half-forced smile, saying "Onoki."

"Hhm… Hiruzen." Onoki grumbled before reluctantly returning the greeting.

"Still Tsuchikage I see. Don't you think it's about time that you passed the torch to the current generation?" Hiruzen joked, trying to break the ice and tease the old fence sitter.

"Hah! Never! The moment I hand over the Tsuchikage seat to a greenhorn, is the moment my village falls apart!" Onoki replied.

"Still as stubborn as always I see." Hiruzen chuckled.

"Lord Raikage." Hiruzen greeted the large dark man at the opposite side of the round table.

The Raikage pulled his gaze away from the Mizukage long enough to look Hiruzen in the eyes and give him a nod of his head, before returning to glare at the Mizukage.

The representative of Iron country still wasn't present so Hiruzen continued on towards the Mizukage. "Hello. It seems like we haven't been introduced yet, my name is Sarutobi Hiruzen. May I ask as to who I have the pleasure to be speaking with?" Hiruzen asked.

"Hello to you as well. My name is Yagura, I am the newly appointed Mizukage. It is a pleasure to meet you Kage of Konoha." Yagura responded, glad that he had something to distract him from the Raikage's glares.

"The pleasure is all mine, however I am no Kage of any sorts." Hiruzen corrected.

"Oh I'm sorry, I assumed that… you know… considering that you are sitting where you are that you were…" Yagura stumbled.

Hiruzen interrupted the small man by raising his hand. "I understand, no harm done. Allow me to explain, you see… Konoha doesn't have a kage because it is ruled by not one but three different people. these are of course always the clan heads of the Uchiha, Senju and Sarutobi clans respectively." Hiruzen informed the newly appointed Mizukage. "Though I am curious, what happened to your predecessor?"

"Ah yes, unfortunately he perished during the invasion of Uzushio. He fell on the last attempt to take the city walls." Yagura answered. "I never hated the man, but in my humble opinion this invasion should never have happened in the first place. I've been against the whole thing from the very beginning. That's the main reason I was left behind to look after the village when the others left. And now I'm left to clean up my predecessors mess!" Yagura exclaimed angrily, having become more at ease during his conversation with the old man.

Realizing what he just did he hurriedly apologized. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to shout like that. I shouldn't have done that…"

"It's quite alright… I can understand your frustration. I would say that if any of us…" Hiruzen gestured towards himself and the other Kages present "…were in your shoes none of us would be as calm about it as you are." Hiruzen tried to ease the man.

"What are you trying to do Hiruzen?" Onoki suddenly interrupted. "You've been awfully friendly with the Mizukage! What are you trying to accomplish? Fishing for information? Establishing trade agreements? An alliance perhaps?" Onoki accused. "Well you can forget about that! Lord Mizukage!" Onoki snapped at Hiruzen before addressing Yagura.

"Huh? Ah! Yes lord Tsuchikage-sama?" Yagura asked frightened.

"If you or your village require any assistance, then the village hidden in the stones will be willing to aide you, as long as you don't make any agreements with those tree lovers from Konoha!" Onoki stated with a smirk on his face, thinking he had snagged an alliance away from under Hiruzen's nose.

"Wow, thank you. That's a very kind offer Lord Tsuchikage-sama. I will most definitely consider it." Yagura thanked the old man.

"Hah! What do you have to say about that Hiruzen?!" Onoki smugly stated as he stood up leaning forward on the table. *crack* "Oooh! My back!" Onoki wheezed in pain.

Hiruzen let his head hang and shook it, "Is it so hard to believe that I'm just trying to give some friendly advice to a fellow Kage? Although technically I'm not a Kage."

Onoki mouth was open but he closed it as the doors to the room opened and a group of samurai entered, escorting 4 people inside. An adult man with long grey hair, a beard a couple inches long and a moustache grown only above the corners of his mouth. This was the representative for the shogun of Iron country, General Mifune! Behind him walked a red-haired man who was a decade younger than Mifune but a head taller than the Raikage. Truly a mountain of a man, with big bulking muscles to make him even more intimidating. Just like Mifune this man carried a katana at his hip on the left. While the sword was twice as big as that of Mifune it paled in comparison with the massive naginata that doubled as a walking stick.

Mifune and the man moved to stand beside the two remaining empty seats. Both then handed their weapons to the samurai escort who bowed and left the room. Mifune took his seat and said "My apologies, my presence was requested to help solve an issue concerning the arrival of our guests from Uzushio." Mifune gestured towards the tall man.

The man still hadn't taken his seat, instead a young red-haired woman was sitting in it, while cradling a bundle of blankets. "Greetings!" The man spoke with his deep and boisterous voice. "We haven't met so allow me to introduce myself." He paused. "I am Uzumaki Rokushi, ruler of whirlpool country! And this is my daughter Uzumaki Kushina, my first-born and heir to the throne!" Kushina looked at everyone gave a polite smile and nodded her head slightly before focusing all of her attention back on the bundle in her arms.

"And this is my bodyguard, Shibata Katsuie, General of the Uzumaki defense forces!" Rokushi continued gesturing towards the man behind him. Shibata Katsuie had black hair tied in a sakayaki hairstyle (Bald on top with a topknot at the back) and a small goatee. He wore light samurai armor and had a katana tucked between his belt. As he was introduced he bowed towards those gathered, then turned and bowed to Rokushi and Kushina before jumping up towards the section designated to the bodyguards.

"Excuse me but I was under the impression that this was a meeting between the various kage… so I'm curious as to why the Uzushio daimyo is here instead?" Yagura asked looking towards Mifune for an explanation.

"You must be the new Mizukage, yes?!" Rokushi asked. "Uzushio doesn't have a daimyo, or Kage for that matter. The land of whirlpool possesses a single ruling family who oversees everything, whether it concerns civilian or military issues! I am its current ruler and therefore carry the title of high king!" Rokushi explained.

"So, if I understand correctly, then this title is hereditary and your daughter Kushina will be the next high king." Rasa summed up his conclusion.

"Well, almost… you see, while I carry the title of high king my wife carries the title of queen and so when my daughter takes on my role of ruler she'll be the new high queen." Rokushi explained.

"Does that mean that whomever your daughter marries becomes the new high king and rule in her stead?" The Raikage asked smelling an opportunity. Perhaps he could arrange a political marriage between his son and the Uzumaki Heiress.

"No it does not!" Kushina said before her father could reply. "My husband would be called king and not high king, just like my mother is called queen and not high queen!" Kushina said glaring at the Raikage. "A king or queen only has as much authority as he or she is given by their marital partner! And in case you were wondering I'm already married, if you haven't noticed the ring on my finger and the child in my arms!"

At hearing that, everyone in the room immediately realized what they should have seen earlier. The bundle in her arms was moving.

A silence fell over the room as everyone except for the people of whirlpool and Mifune was dumbfounded and raised an eyebrow. Hiruzen was the first to break the silence saying, "I don't mean to be rude, but don't you think bringing a child to this place is somewhat a… bad… idea?"

"Well, he's only a week old! I couldn't possibly leave him behind now could I?!" Kushina replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I think, what he meant to say is that it might have been better for both you and the child if both of you had stayed behind." The Raikage stated, trying to get back at her for her previous words.

"Nonsense! If I'm not here, then who is going to make sure that my father doesn't destroy most of Iron country the moment he starts drinking?!" Kushina replied.

"Kushina?! ….The reason why you had to be here… was to prevent me from getting drunk?" Rokushi asked surprise clearly seen on his face. "Kushina, you know that I haven't touched a drop of liquor in over a decade!" He said, feeling hurt at Kushina's lack of faith in him.

"Have you forgotten what happened last time you got drunk father?! Because I haven't!" Kushina yelled at him angrily, her eyes digging themselves into his. Rokushi couldn't look her in the eyes as he was reminded of that time.

"Let me remind you! First, you destroyed half the castle! Then, you went into the city dressed only in a single bed sheet and then proceeded to declare to everyone that from then on that that day would be celebrated as manly-man day and every man should eat lots of meat and perform macho stunts to decide who was the most macho man in the world!" Kushina lectured her father.

"I get it Kushina! I get it! So please stop, you don't have to tell everyone everything!" Rokushi begged of his daughter as he looked around the room where most people were trying to keep themselves from laughing while others were laughing out loud not even trying to restrain themselves.

"You wish! If you don't want people to know then you shouldn't have done those things in the first place! Now where was I? …oh yes! The macho stuff! …now as I was saying. After you announced the day to be manly-man day and explained everything you went and pulled 10 houses off of their foundations and then put them back… **upside down!** So finally having proved yourself as the most macho man in the world you ran out of the city and disappeared for three whole days! **Not to mention the entire islands supply of ice-cream!** Now you explain to me how three-thousand tons of ice-cream can disappear into thin air! Huh?! How?!" Kushina raged on.

"I … I don't know." Rokushi mumbled with his head hanging in shame.

"And why is that?!" Kushina screamed at her father.

"Because I can't remember anything after I've been drunk." Rokushi said after taking a deep sigh, making it sound like he said that sentence very often.

"Now, now, let's calm down, we're here to discuss political issues concerning the countries represented by all the people gathered here today." Said Mifune, reminding everyone why they were here.

*relieved sigh* "Thank you Mifune, you're absolutely right." Rokushi said relieved to get the attention drawn away from his embarrassing past.

"You're welcome. *pause* Oh! That reminds me… we'll be providing some refreshments for all of you shortly. Kushina-sama, I could ask the staff to provide a bottle of milk for the baby if you'd like?" Mifune offered.

"That's very kind of you, but that won't be necessary." Kushina replied.

"Then, if your father doesn't need it, perhaps your son would like to have some instead?" Mifune joked, causing the room to burst into laughter.

Several minutes later the room had quieted down again except for the baby in Kushina's arms who had been crying ever since they started laughing. "There, there. Everything is alright. Mommy is sorry for waking you up like that so no more crying okay?" Kushina said, cradling Naruto and rocking him back and forth slowly.

"Now that we've all had our laughs, I believe the time has come for us to move on to more serious matters." Mifune spoke to those around the table. "Wouldn't you agree?" he asked them, looking around the table once more. When he saw that they all nodded their heads, giving him their blessings to get the talks started he sat back down in his chair.

"Before we can start discussing what needs to be done, I believe that it is crucial that we all know what transpired on whirlpool island that led us to this situation." Mifune said as he unfurled an empty scroll and reached for a brush, which he dipped into the ink to his right.

"Let's start with documenting the military forces of both sides. Who can tell me about the makeup of the allied forces?" Mifune asked as he looked expectantly at the Mizukage, Tsuchikage and the Raikage.

Yagura waved his hands in front of himself signifying that he didn't know anything about it. He had only become Mizukage after his predecessor perished during the invasion. The Raikage merely avoided eye contact with everyone. Onoki, the Tsuchikage sighed before sitting up straight and looking at Mifune.

"When the allied forces first set out for whirlpool we started with around 820.000 men and women, most of which were regular foot soldiers from the lands of water, earth, lightning and some of the smaller countries." Onoki began to explain. "Another, smaller part of our forces consisted of Samurai in service to the daimyos of the earlier mentioned countries. The hidden villages also took part and as such a small part was made up of shinobi and kunoichi. The last and smallest part consisted of mercenaries and missing-ninja's which were paid in gold." Onoki finished.

"Thank you Tsuchikage-sama." Mifune said with a respectful nod of his head as he finished notating the last bits upon the scroll. "Uzumaki Rokushi… could you give me a description of the whirlpool army that defended against the allied forces?" Mifune asked.

"Yes, I can. When the allied forces invaded upon my shores the whirlpool army was comprised of 22.000 men and women in total. 20.000 fully trained samurai and 2.000 shinobi, all of which equal to the rank of jounin or anbu in terms of fighting skill." Rokushi dictated from memory.

"THAT'S ABSURD!" the Raikage said not believing his ears. "WHY WOULD YOU ONLY THROW YOUR BEST SAMURAI AND SHINOBI INTO BATTLE?! DO YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT THERE WASN'T A SINGLE GENIN OR CHUUNIN AMONGST YOUR RANKS?!" the Raikage continued.

"Raikage-sama! Please calm yourself!" Mifune stopped the Raikage from losing control. Mifune then turned towards the high king of whirlpool and said "While I don't approve of lord Raikage's tone, I have to agree with what he said. I find it hard to believe that the whirlpool army didn't have a single chuunin or genin within its ranks." Mifune said, wanting to hear Rokushi's explanation.

Kushina was the one to explain however, as she said "In whirlpool we do things differently. For both our samurai and shinobi. In whirlpool we believe that genin aren't ready for actual combat and as such they aren't added to our main forces. The same goes for our chuunin. However, because they have more experience fighting than genin they act as reserves for the main army. With samurai thing are a little bit different, we have an academy where all the students train to become samurai. A student is only promoted to the rank of samurai once he has mastered the ways of the yumi (bow), the katana (sword) and the yari (spear). These are the basics that every student has to master. For those that want to, there are advanced classes that teach how to fight with different weapons or styles. Like the naginata, two-sword-style or how to fight from atop a horse." Kushina finished her explanation with a friendly smile.

…

*silence*

…

"Is this true?" Hiruzen asked, breaking the silence. "Genin really aren't allowed to go into combat?" Hiruzen clarified his question.

"That is correct, our genin aren't allowed to see real combat, they are still only children after all." Kushina replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What kind of man would send children into battle?! Only a monster could do such a thing in my opinion." Kushina stated still smiling, earning herself a bunch of anger filled looks from some people in the room.

"Then how do they get the experience they need to get stronger and be able to survive in this war filled world?" Hiruzen asked, his tone sounding desperate. "Please tell me how you train your genin! If there is a way for me to teach them how to survive in this world without sending them out of the village and risk their lives, then please tell me!" Hiruzen begged as he had gotten out of his seat and kneeled in front of the two whirlpool royals.

The room went silent for a moment as they didn't expect Sarutobi Hiruzen, known and respected as the professor bowing his head on the floor. The next moment Jiraiya had jumped down from the bodyguard section above and was kneeling beside his sensei.

"What do you think you are doing, old man?! You can't just start begging like that in front of all these people! What about your pride and the image of our village?!" Jiraiya said, grabbing his sensei under the armpit, trying to pull him to his feet.

Hiruzen wasn't cooperating however and Jiraiya wasn't able to lift him to his feet. Tsunade soon joined Jiraiya next to her sensei, putting the entire room on edge. The entire group from the leaf village was now standing, kneeling actually, down by the other kages. If the leaf was planning to attack they would have an advantage over the others. Tsunade noticed that several of the other kages were already halfway between standing and sitting, the bodyguards still sitting where they were supposed to be were reaching for their weapons.

"Come on sensei…" she urged as she too reached for an armpit to pull her sensei to his feet, while keeping her eyes on the people above. "This isn't the time for this…" she whispered between clenched teeth as her sensei struggled to free himself of his students their grip. "SHUT UP!" he yelled startling his students. "You have no idea what it's like to send those children out there knowing that they may not come back! Up until now I didn't have a choice however! If I didn't send them out they never would have gained the experience needed to survive! Every year I send these genin on missions and every year there are those that come back in a body bag! Or worse! They never come back at all!" Hiruzen shouted at the floor.

Jiraiya and Tsunade let go of him, as they stepped away from their sensei they started noticing that he was crying. Tears started falling one by one onto the floor.

"sensei…" was all Tsunade could say.

"Come on old man… if it means that much to you then we'll negotiate with whirlpool for the information. But you've got to pull yourself together now. Remember? The reason we came here was so that we could work something out that would ease the people's minds." Jiraiya said, finally being able to get his sensei to his feet. Hiruzen wiped the tears from his eyes and shuffled back to his seat where he lowered his head. Jiraiya jumped back up to his section and seat, Tsunade joined him a little later, after she had put a reassuring and comforting hand on her sensei's shoulder. Hiruzen put his hand on top of hers, looked over his shoulder and smiled at her. Signifying that he was okay now. He then turned towards those gathered around the table and apologized "I'm sorry for my behavior just now, I shouldn't have let my emotions get the better of me like that."

"It's okay Hiruzen…" Onoki said surprisingly empathetically. "Everyone here who has ever had to send out a genin team that didn't come back alive knows what you're going through. It's the one thing that I hate more than paperwork!" Onoki said.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen…" Kushina said looking into the empty eyes of the man she addressed with a sad look. "Once these talks are over whirlpool would be glad to negotiate about our training methods regarding genin. I wish I could offer it to you freely, unfortunately, the world doesn't work that way. And we won't just negotiate with Konoha alone, if there are others amongst you who would like to acquire our training secrets we are prepared to negotiate." Kushina said kindly before looking at the rest of the room.

They didn't let it show on their faces, but it was clear to her that most if not all of them would be present for the negotiations when this was over.

*cough*

Mifune cleared his throat with a short cough, drawing the attention back to him. A drop of sweat was visible on his forehead, even though he kept his calm it was clear that all the interruptions were starting to annoy him. "It seems we've gotten slightly off track once more… if you'd allow it, I'd like to get back to the main reason of our gathering?" he asked politely, yet stern. Letting them know that any further interruptions wouldn't be appreciated unless absolutely necessary.

Those responsible for the interruptions seemed to have the decency to at least look ashamed.

"Very well then… now that I've officially recorded the details about the military forces on both sides of the conflict. Let's move on to what happened on the first day of the invasion." Mifune said.

"The problem at hand is to decide who to start with… hmm…" Mifune thought out loud while stroking his beard. "I think that I… Yes that would probably be best!" Mifune said speaking his thoughts for all to hear, before turning towards Rokushi and asking "Lord Rokushi, could you tell me when your nations first realized that you were being invaded? Did you know about the invasion in advance or did it come as a complete surprise to the inhabitants of whirlpool?"

"Rumors were going around that a large fleet was heading for whirlpool. But after I had my men investigate these rumors they appeared to originate from a drunken fisherman so I didn't take it very seriously. In hindsight I should have, even though not much would have changed, but instead of increasing both the town guards and patrols by only 5% it should have been 20%." Rokushi stated.

"We only fully realized that the invasion fleet was real when they were spotted on our horizon on the first day. News quickly reached my ears and the towns to the west of Whirlpool capitol were already evacuating by that time. The natural whirlpools surrounding the island provided me with the time I needed to order my troops to assist in the evacuation and transfer all resources from the villages to the capitol." Rokushi continued.

"You mean to say that you used scorched earth tactics against the invading army by denying them the natural resources of whirlpool?" Mifune wanted to confirm.

"Yes, we brought in the harvests and dried up the wells and rivers. After the west had been secured and the army had made upon our shores I ordered the same tactics to be used in the settlements to the north, south and east of the capitol." Rokushi answered.

"Anything different for these regions in comparison to the western regions?" Mifune asked.

"Hmm? I don't think so, no." Rokushi replied causing Kushina to roll her eyes and sigh heavily.

"The region to the north of Whirlpool's capitol has many mines and stone quarries which we made sure to collapse; The region to the south consist mostly of thick forest which turns into jungle further south and eventually desert at the utmost southern part of the island. The forests are great for hunting, but it's a delicate ecosystem so we had it sealed inside of a barrier. It would be bad if one of the species inside the forest would go extinct on the island." Kushina explained in greater detail.

"We wanted to bring in the harvests from the eastern region as well, but they weren't ready for harvesting yet so we ordered the dams to be opened so the crops would be flooded." Kushina finished.

"Hold on a moment that reminds me… you said you brought in the harvest from the west, correct?" Yagura asked, to which he received a confirming nod from Kushina.

"I was wondering how that's possible, considering that during the invasion the season doesn't seem to add up with harvesting time. What you said about the east makes sense to me because the season would be right around that time where the rice fields are still being tended to and not ready for harvesting. But your fields to the west had already been fully harvested?" Yagura wanted to know.

"Now that you mention it… I didn't encounter any rice fields when we marched eastward from the shores in the west." The Raikage recalled.

"That's because we don't grow rice in the west." Rokushi said. "The east is reserved for rice, radishes and beans. While the west is reserved for wheat, potatoes, carrots, lettuce and other vegetables." Rokushi finished.

"What is… wheat…?" Yagura asked.

"It's a tall brown grass with many seeds at the top. You don't have wheat on the main land?" Rokushi asked surprised.

"Hold on a second!" Onoki interrupted. "I think I saw something like that! Yes, I remember. I marched through one of those fields with my army on the second day! I never knew that those were edible…" Onoki said.

"They're not! well… not the way they are… how do I explain this…?" Rokushi tried to explain.

Kushina once again came to her father's aid, saying "Once the wheat is pulled out of the ground the seeds at the top are removed and sorted into two groups. The biggest healthy seeds are used to replant the fields, and the smaller, damaged ones are grinded into a fine powder that we call flour. The flour is then mixed with water and turns into dough. The dough then gets kneaded-"

"I'm sorry! What is kneaded?" Yagura asked.

"hm… I guess it is similar to how a katana is forged. Just like the metal is forcibly transformed into shape and is folded to increase the strength and flexibility, the dough is being squeezed, pulled and folded to make it firm. Then afterwards it is put to rest so it can rise until it is the proper size. Finally it is put into an oven to bake and the end result is a deliciously brown baked bread." Kushina finished.

Yagura wanted to know about bread as well but the expression on Mifune's face stopped him from asking any further.

Mifune wasn't happy with all these interruptions but he was distracted as the doors swung open and the staff working in the castle started bringing refreshments to the table, offering to pour the guests sake or asked them which snack they preferred. In the meanwhile the same was happening in the bodyguard sections above.

Mifune sighed as he palmed his face, rubbing at his temples before relaxing into his seat, saying "Perhaps we should take this opportunity to take a break and resume our discussions later when we are all serious!"

He then waved the sake away and asked for a relaxing cup of tea instead. Sake would only blur his mind and he needed to be alert but calm later on. The tea was put in front of him and he smiled at the girl who brought it, thanking her before taking a sip from his cup.

He let the soothing beverage envelop him from the inside as he closed his eyes, thinking 'I hope it isn't going to be like this the entire time or else I might not make it until the end. Oh well, I guess I'll find out.'

 _ **End chapter 3: Gathering of the great!**_

Hey sorry for ending it like this. I had a difficult time trying to find a suitable ending to this chapter but I couldn't find one. This was the best I could come up with, sorry!

But please don't forget to follow, favorite and leave a review.


	4. Emergency

**The price of peace!**

 _ **Chapter #: Emergency notice**_

I received two alarming reviews that I wish to get a reply to as soon as possible!

First!

I received a review saying that I hate naruto. That's not true I do not hate him in the least! I would like that person to contact me on my pm and tell me in greater detail why they think I hate naruto. Please contact me so we can work this out.

Second!

A review that says that I portray Kushina as a coward. How did you come to that conclusion? I really don't understand. Please contact me so that I can understand. I don't want to portray her as a coward at all. Where have I given you the impression that Kushina is a coward? I want to fix this issue as soon as possible!

 _ **End chapter #: Emergency notice**_


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